This invention relates to optical fiber guided missiles, and, more particularly, to the payout leader configuration for an inside payout optical fiber canister.
After it is launched, a guided missile may remain interconnected with a remote control station by an optical fiber. Performance and navigational information is conveyed from the missile to the control station over the optical fiber, and control commands are conveyed from the control station to the missile over the same optical fiber. The optical fiber is initially wound into an optical fiber pack carried in a canister on the missile. The optical, fiber is unwound from the optical fiber pack and canister and dispensed as the missile flies. Some missiles fly at speeds of 500 miles per hour or more, and great care must be taken to avoid causing the optical fiber to fail. A single failure of the optical fiber can cause the entire mission to be unsuccessful.
An optical fiber pack is formed of a plurality of annular layers of the optical fiber. The canister can be constructed so that the optical fiber pays out from either the inside surface of the optical fiber pack or the outside surface. The inside payout canister has the advantage that the payout is more linear, and there is less circumferential momentum of the optical fiber during payout.
One of the problems encountered for both inside and outside payout canisters is the initial payout of the optical fiber. From rest upon its launcher, the missile is rapidly accelerated to high speed. Unless care Is taken, the optical fiber can be severely twisted or bent, or otherwise deformed, so as to lead to breakage of the optical fiber. Another concern is that the aft end of the optical fiber pack can be damaged by hot gas from the missile engine, particularly during the initial phases of flight.
There is a need for an improved approach to the initiation of the optical fiber payout. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.